A textile pioneer is bringing office staff to downtown Anderson's tallest commercial building, which has been vacant for several years.

Jonathan Witmer, CEO of WestPoint Home LLC, announced Thursday that his company's hospitality and support service offices will move from downtown Clemson to a building at 201 North Main Street in Anderson. The company will occupy two of the building's four stories by the end of 2018.

About 60 employees currently work in the company's Clemson offices. The company also has offices in New York, Bahrain, Shanghai and Dubai.

Speaking at an event in downtown Anderson, Witmer said his company was looking for "a great community with amazing people and a place where we can grow expand and build our business and do it the American way."

WestPoint Home makes bed and bath home fashions. It sells products under licensed brands and its own Vellux, Martex, Utica, Luxor, Patrician, Grand Patrician and Modern Living brands. The company is a product of mergers and acquisitions involving textile giants West Point Manufacturing Co., Pepperell Manufacturing Co. and J.P. Stevens & Co. Inc.

“The textile industry has been through a lot you in the last you know 20 to 30 years,” said Witmer, who was hired in May by WestPoint Home's parent company, Icahn Enterprises. “It is really becoming a much more globalized market.

"The cradle of what makes the textile industry great is still alive here," he said, adding that "we are doing some amazing things with textiles."

The city was once home to five textile mills, all of which have closed.

"It seems appropriate, almost serendipitous, to have a pioneer whose legacy can be traced back 200 years to return here and revive this tradition," said Kimberly Spears, the city's economic development director.

Thursday's announcement comes less than three weeks after city and county officials announced plans for a $12 million hotel in downtown Anderson.

The building at 201 North Main Street was bought by Rogue Holdings LLC for $825,000 in July, county property records show. Developer John Wright Jr. of McCoy Wright Commercial Real Estate is listed as the registered agent for Rogue Holdings, which was formed last year, according to the South Carolina Secretary of State.

Besides the space in the building that is being renovated for WestPoint, Wright said plans call for gutting the first floor and adding windows.

“We are already in discussions with several prospective tenants that would look to occupy anywhere from 5,000 up to 20,000 square feet," Wright said. “I truly believe that 10 to 20 years from now we will look back and realize that this project is what took downtown Anderson to the next level.”

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